Don’t they know this is the only time when politicians don’t listen to the business lobby?
This is the time to woo voters, not donations. It’s election time, a small window of a few weeks when actual people not multinational corporations, suddenly become important.
This point appears to have eluded the AFR which splashed this morning with a hearty whine by the Business Council of Australia, a glossy herogram, a roundtable of sorts spruiking “evidence-based arguments”, and sporting a tone of bewildered indignation as to why nobody was listening to them; even the normally attentive Liberals.
“Because the future of Australia should be bright. We should be ambitious. We are a young nation and we should not be seeing boundaries and limitations, but we should be seeing opportunities.” BCA president Tim Reed told the AFR. He’s right of course, unless he is referring to the BCA’s usual opportunities – lower wages for workers and lower taxes for business.
The BCA has long been known for its bright and ambitious policy positions, such as when it celebrated Tony Abbott’s repeal of the carbon price in 2014.
Callum Foote was a reporter for Michael West Media for four years.